“Writers Nancy Hansen, I.A. Watson and Derrick Ferguson offer up three classic Sinbad tales to rival those of legend while adding a familiar sensibility from the cult favorite Sinbad movies of FX master, Ray Harryhausen.”

There is an important distinction there. Master Harryhausen's films are a big source of the tomes inspiration. I freakin' loved those films as a lad. To my pleasant surprise they still hold up today. I've never read Arabian Nights (1001 Nights) so this distinction was all I needed to know. I wanted to check out this book.

Admittedly I was reluctant to accept the idea of a supporting cast that had been cooked up to travel along with Sinbad: a female samurai, a viking berserker and an archer from Gaul. I think it must be the purist that bubbles up out of me periodically. I thought it was a horrible idea. I also thought Teenage Ninja Turtles was ridiculous and wouldn't go anywhere when it first broke. Even I can be wrong once or twice.

There are three tales woven in this book from names that are far from unknown to New Pulp audiences: Nancy Hansen, I.A. Watson and Derrick Ferguson. Each bring their 'A' game. I greatly enjoyed each and every story. I certainly wanted more after finishing the book. It was devoured, this collection! There is action a plenty, drama, the expected fantasy element with monsters to fight and magic deal with including a particularly wretched witch. I thought it was interesting that each writer told a different tale, but each had a voice that was unique and all were definitively Sinbad tales worthy to stand next to the Harryhausen films. Those three characters that joined Sinbad in all the tales were deftly handled and to me at least seemed to belong there. (I'd like a crack at writing solo tales for all three, frankly) It all worked quite well together and made for a wondrous read for this fantasy-adventure lover.

Not to be outdone by the tales is the impressive interior artwork handled by Ralf van der Hoeven with Bryan Fowler throwing down some cool cover art.

Props must go out to Ron Fortier for coming up with and organizing this idea into the finely polished treasure that pleased me to no end. I really can't wait for future volumes.

This wasn't my first exposure to Whalen writing his monster hunter Slate but the subject matter jumped out at me. I knew the quality would be there regardless but throw in the samurai element and I had to jump on it. The crux of the story makes a its bloody presence known very quickly. Our man Slate is hired to seek out just what made a soldier go mad and get to hacking with a very rare to the region weapon of Japanese origin. There are monsters involved but not all of them come from the other side of the grave. Whalen is a capable writer that is not scared of researching a new topic so it smacks of authenticity. The prose is crisp and the dialogue resonates with the old west where we find ourselves settling in comfortably.